Comparison

SigNoz vs Zipkin

On the evidence we track, SigNoz leads this comparison with a composite score of 57/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
SigNoz57
Zipkin43
Score
Vioscale score
SigNoz57 / 100medium · 58%
Zipkin43 / 100low · 38%
Pricing
Free tier
SigNoz
Zipkin
Model
Price level
SigNozlow
Zipkinfree
Transparent
SigNoz
Zipkin
Integrations
Count
SigNoz50
Zipkin10
Reliability
Status page
SigNoz
Zipkin
Adoption
Dependent repos
SigNoz0
Zipkin1,426
Github stars
SigNoz31,930
Zipkin17,453
Activity
Commits last 30d
SigNoz100
Zipkin0
Release
Cadence days
SigNoz4
Zipkin15
History
SigNoz20 items
Zipkin20 items
License
Spdx
SigNoz
Language
Primary
ZipkinJava
Market
Availability

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for distributed tracing tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Core
Trace role
SigNozSaaS platform
ZipkinTrace backend / store
Standards
OpenTelemetry support
SigNozOTel-native
Zipkin-
Multi-protocol (Jaeger + Zipkin + OTLP)
SigNoz-
Zipkin
Query
Trace search / filter by attributes
SigNoz
Zipkin
Service dependency graph
SigNoz
Zipkin
High-cardinality attribute exploration
SigNoz-
Zipkin-
Sampling
Tail-based / dynamic sampling
SigNoz-
Zipkin-
Instrumentation
Auto-instrumentation
SigNozAgent-based
ZipkinAgent-based
Correlation
Correlate traces with metrics/logs
SigNoz
Zipkin-
Deployment
Hosting
SigNozCloud + self-hosted
ZipkinSelf-hosted only
Architecture
Storage backend
SigNoz-
ZipkinIn-memory, Apache Cassandra, Elasticsearch, OpenSearch

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

SigNoz

Leader

A monitoring and observability tool that aggregates traces, metrics, logs, and dashboards into one interface. Supports self-hosted deployment or cloud operation, built on the OpenTelemetry standard.

Independently observed

Zipkin

Collects timing and dependency data from instrumented applications to troubleshoot latency issues. Provides a web interface for querying traces by service, operation, tags, or duration, and displays how requests flow through the service architecture.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

SigNoz

Leader
HybridFree tier30-day trial

Free open-source self-hosted version; cloud plans usage-based with 30-day free trial

  • Open SourceFree
  • Cloud-
as of verify ↗

Zipkin

Open source
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
SigNoz
Zipkin
macOS
SigNoz
Zipkin
Linux
SigNoz
Zipkin
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
SigNoz
Zipkin
Self-hosted
SigNoz
Zipkin
On-premise
SigNoz
Zipkin

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

In common (2)
  • Elasticsearch
  • RabbitMQ

SigNoz

Leader
16 total - 14 not shared
  • Apache
  • HAProxy
  • Open WebUI
  • DSPy
  • HCP Vault
  • OpenTelemetry eBPF
  • Langflow
  • Cohere
  • Auth0
  • PgBouncer
  • Kubernetes
  • Git
  • Jira
  • Google Chat
Independently observed

Zipkin

10 total - 8 not shared
  • HTTP
  • Kafka
  • Apache ActiveMQ
  • gRPC
  • Apache Pulsar
  • Apache Cassandra
  • OpenSearch
  • Brave
Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.